With Bitcoin At $50K, Which Crypto Stocks Should You Pick?

With Bitcoin At $50K, Which Crypto Stocks Should You Pick?

Cryptocurrency stocks have continued their surge this year, driven by retail and institutional interest. While the crypto market bellwether Bitcoin has soared 5x over the last 12 months and by almost 80% year-to-date, lesser-known crypto Dogecoin is up by over 10x year-to-date. To be sure, these currencies remain a risky investment, given their relative lack of utility and extremely high volatility. Our indicative theme on Cryptocurrency Stocks - which includes semiconductor, payments, and brokerage companies that have exposure to the cryptocurrency value chain - could be a safer way to play the crypto space, without taking a position in individual currencies. The theme has returned about 151% since the end of 2019, compared to about 22% for the S&P 500. The theme is also up 14% year-to-date, versus about 5% for the S&P 500. Payments player Square remains the strongest performer in our theme, rising by over 330% since the end of 2019, driven by its Bitcoin exposure, and also by an increasing preference for digital payments among consumers and businesses. On the other side, financial exchange major CME Group has been the worst performer in our theme, down by about -5% over the same period.

[Updated 1/20/2021] Cryptocurrency Stocks

Bitcoin prices